F1GP can prove tricky until a few simple techniques are mastered. This
document lists some of the most useful pieces of advice for learning how
to drive quickly enough. Please remember that these tips come from
various people on the net, and that everyone develops their own style.
DG: I've made a few personal observations about driving style, based
partly on people's descriptions of how they drive, and partly on their
setups. It seems that the fastest qualifiers tend to be in the Mansell
mould; very exciting to watch, right on the limit of essentially
unstable setups; Ivanhoe Vasiljevich and the Smit brothers, Ren=82 and
Robin, certainly seem to fit this description. Those who consistently do
well in races are in the Prost mould; calm, calculating, pragmatic,
pushing safe, stable setups hard enough to get the job done without
risking an incident which could wipe out their chances; that's the
approach I try to take. Knowing which approach to use when is half the
trick; being able to use either as necessary is the other half...
1. Learn the course
This is probably the hardest, but most effective method for speeding up.
With a good knowledge of the track you can pick up 2-3 seconds a lap.
There is no easy way to learn the tracks except to drive round them a
lot! Look out for landmarks, such as the dome at Mexico, the bridges at
Silverstone and the buildings at Monaco. Once you know what corners are
coming up you can anticipate the way that the opposition are going to
move and which side of the course to position yourself on. Of course
with the Ideal Line on it becomes a lot easier to tell, but on the
higher levels you lose this option.
DG: Hint: the ideal line isn't always the ideal line.
2. Braking
OK, so you know where the corners are, now how about slowing for them.
The Auto-Braking feature is very poor, and you can usually travel
another 100 yards before you have to apply the brakes, this is the main
way for passing the other cars and making up a lot of time. The computer
controlled cars always brake very early so it is east to shoot past
them, there is no excuse for not passing 3 or 4 cars at every 1st or 2nd
gear corner.
By late-breaking into all corners whilst on a clear lap you can easily
smash the lap record, the only problem with this technique is that your
tyres get worn quickly and you may find yourself having to make an extra
pit-stop. [DG: Actually, I think tyre wear is based on distance only.]
3. Starting
A good start can gain you plenty of places, or keep you out of the usual
pile up at the first corner. If you have too many revs as the lights go
green you will sit stationary whilst the wheels spin, and if you have
too few revs the car will move away too slowly. There is quite a large
rev-band in the middle where you can make a very good start.
GB: My personnel technique is to hold the car at full revs in first
until the first lights come on, and then let go of the clutch (Gear
change button), by the time the light go green the revs will have fallen
enough for you to make a pretty good start. Note, this does not apply in
the wet, when two many revs causes massive amounts of wheel spin. See
the "In the wet" section for more information.
DG: My technique is similar, but I let the revs start dropping after
counting to 5 (about 7 to 8 seconds). This is slightly before the red
lights come on, about 1-2 seconds. That way, the revs are a little lower
when the lights go to green, you get less wheelspin, and a quicker
start.
If you aren't on pole, you should be aware that when the wheels stop
spinning and bite properly, you'll get a sudden burst of acceleration
which can easily put you into the back of anyone in front.
4. Accidents
Invariably there will be an accident during a race, there are three
types, ones that are half a lap away, ones that are a car length away,
and an accident involving your car. Obviously the first sort is the
easiest to cope with, and you will only usually find out about by the
message "Kip Kipper is out the race". When this appears press pause and
then insert to see what happened. This is done for two reasons, firstly
to watch any cool pile-ups and secondly to see if it effects your lap at
all. In most cases there will be no problems and you can continue as
normal, however you should always check for cars parked half on the
track that the computer isn't removing, and any damaged cars. If any
stopped cars are still on the track then remember where they are so you
don't overtake into the side of them! Normally the marshalls will push
stalled cars away pretty quickly, but there are a few places where they
may leave part of the car on the track. Damaged cars only pose a threat
if you catch up with them near the pit-lane since they will suddenly cut
across your path and can cause further accidents. (This is most
noticeable at Mexico where cars going into the pits slow down on the
racing line. Several other tracks also suffer from similar problems,
especially Montreal, where they slow to 40 mph where you need to be
going 170 mph!)
If there is an accident directly in front of you then there is usually
not too much you can do except take avoiding action; always watch the
road ahead for funny shaped blotches that could be spinning cars and
take care near some of the 'blackspots'. If there is a crash and you
can't avoid it then all you can do is slow down and pray that you are
going slow enough to cause no damage. Remember that you could get stuck
behind another damaged car and the same problems as above apply.
Finally, what do you do if you are in an accident? The first thing to do
is not panic or get angry, if you go off course then there is nothing
much you can do except wait for a gap in the traffic to pull back on. If
you pull back on without waiting then chances are you will be hit by
another car and taken out.
Your car can be damaged at the front, the rear, or both combined. Front
damage makes it very difficult to turn corners, rear damage means wheel
spin and a sharp turn will spin the car, and both damaged will make the
car very difficult to control. Once your car is damaged, all you can do
is limp round to the pits, taking the straights quickly and the corners
slowly and carefully. Once in the pit it is usually a 25 second stop
before you are released.
It helps to practice a bit on the grass. The cars will behave strangely
on grass (and most especially when one side of the car is on grass and
the other on asphalt) and you need to practice getting back on the
course quickly, and without hitting the walls or other cars. Sometimes
no matter how hard you try, other cars will ram straight into you. That,
as Damon Hill would say, is racing.
5. The pits
The pits are where all repairs are conducted on your car, in an ideal
race you will only see them once or twice for pit stops. During a pit
stop bring your car in smoothly, and consider doing another lap if a car
in front is also going to pull in as they will slow you down. When in
the pits watch very carefully for other cars pulling out or racing down
the pit lane as they will hit you mercilessly. A tyre stop is quick with
the get-away being the only problem you have to worry about.
GB: I follow a similar procedure to starting the race, but instead of
waiting for the first lights I wait for the car to begin to be dropped.
When the car is damaged there is little change in the procedure except
that the stop will take longer and there is more danger of you
overshooting the pit.
6. The opposition
There are 26 cars in a race and if the level is set to 1991 level then
they all have a set performance. In this case it helps to know what the
other team colors are so you know who you are trying to pass. Mono VGA
owners [GB: like me] will just have to learn the general patterns of the
faster cars. By knowing who you are up against you can judge how fast
they are going to be traveling and how likely they are to make a pass on
another car.
The Artificial Intelligence of the computer cars is very poor and they
will all follow the same line, and brake at the same points so it pays
to learn these patterns. The main problems occur when overtaking two
cars that are battling each other, at some circuits (notably Hockenheim)
sometimes the second car will put out to overtake the first car as you
pull alongside, thus pushing you off. There is no way around this and
you will just have to wait for a corner or pull right over to the side
of the track.
7. The right line
The right line is crucial for going quickly, however, the game provides
a lot of help when it comes to picking out the correct route. This is
done in two way, firstly through the use of the Ideal Line Indicator
which puts the dotted line on the track, and the Steering Help which
tends to pull you over to the correct side of the course. Although both
of these options can be turned off, by the time you reach the levels
where the former is not allowed you should know the courses quite well.
At some corners it helps to come up with your own line, but this will
tend to happen naturally depending on your style.
8. Cornering
Grand Prix cars have a different cornering characteristics depending on
their set up, and learning these is just a matter of trial and
experiment. With a lot of downforce at the back, the car will be
unresponsive in corners but it will tend to drift out of corners nicely,
the main thing to remember is not to accelerate mid corner as the car
will understeer off the course.
If the cars has more front downforce then it will turn in well and be
better at taking sharp corners, the problem with this set up is that if
you accelerate to early the car will spin or turn too quickly, it takes
time to learn the correct acceleration point, but this just takes
practice. Sometimes the rear wheels will skid as you come round a long
corner (Peralta at Mexico), occasionally it pays off to accelerate when
this happens, and hope the tyres bite the road. This technique takes a
lot of practice and good luck, but once you learn it, the cars become
far more controllable than before.
DG: Read the manual carefully. It does explain how the setup will affect
the car's handling, and what oversteer and understeer are, but not very
clearly. Practice and experiment a lot until you can identify how a
setup change will affect handling and performance. And the manual has
some good advice: only change one thing at once.
9. Overtaking
Apart from the methods described in 'Braking' and 'The Opposition' there
is Slipstreaming, where you move up close behind the car in front and
pick up a tow (This is a "hole" in the air behind a car in front, by
moving into it you lose downforce and so move faster). As your car picks
up speed pull out quickly and use the extra 10mph to overtake. This is
fairly easy to do, the only problem happening if you have a low
downforce car and you turn out to sharply and lose control. There isn't
too much you can do about this except to turn out more gently or be
ready to catch the skid.
10. In the wet
GB: I am rubbish at this! Any tips appreciated for both me and the FAQ.
DG: Err, yeah, me too!
11. Set up hints
Take a look at the Halls Of Fame for some good setups.
-- Dave "Gizmo" Gymer Telephone +44 (0)1268 534228
-- General DataComm Advanced Research Centre Ltd, Basildon, UK
-- [email hidden] (preferred) or [email hidden]
